Parallel Opposite
by Funeral.Bell
Summary: Suddenly attacked by the enemy ship, Dawn watches as her greatest fear unfolds. With a chance safety, she is forcefully shoved into the escape pod. Now it's up to her to find the scattered pieces of the Adamant Orb in Sinnoh with a little help, that is.
1. Prologue & Affect

**A/N: I'm back~ In a week flat, too! Bwahahahaha! Sorry, I just got this major plot bunny while I was brushing my teeth; the mirror gave me the idea of the title. I was gonna make this for another category, but hell! I was like...POKEMON ALL THE WAY. :D And I'm glad that people enjoyed Simple Harmony, especially with all the favs/alerts it got. YOU GUYS ROCK. I hope ya guys like this new addition, I actually like the plot idea.  
Summary:** Suddenly attacked by the enemy ship, Dawn watches as her greatest fear unfolds. With a chance safety, she is forcefully shoved into the escape pod. Now, it's up to her to find the scattered pieces of the adamant orb in Sinnoh, with a little help, that is. IKARISHIPPING/AU.  
**Rated**:T  
**Genres:** Fantasy/Romance/Adventure/Friendship  
**Pairings**: Ikarishipping (PaulxDawn, _**MAIN**__)_, Ironwillshipping (RileyxDawn), _SLIGHT_ Beaconshipping (VolknerxDawn), Conestshipping (MayxDrew), RoarkxVolkner. More pairings to come? Maybe.  
**English?: **Yes, this time it will be all about the English translated thingy-thing. XD Which mean, English translation for cities, names, and vise versa? Got it? Awesome then. :3  
**Extra note:** _Thoughts_ will be written in _italics_. Oh way, this is half Au-ish. Why half? For one: it is an AU for whole Celestian and Daemon thing. Why it's not that Au-ish, 'cause I am including Pokémon in it. :3 Overall, review! Ain't the title b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l? XDDDD  
**Disclaimer:** I said before, and I'll say it again. I. Do. Not. Own. For. Pete. Sake. Alright? Got. It? Good.  
**Playlist/Song of choice**: Like I do before in other previous fics, I'll repeat myself like a broken record. I have two in store for each chapter, one '_instrumental_', one that is 'normal'. Go ahead; you're free to choose which one~ Just in case you have different preferences! Artist/band first, song next.  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~  
**_George Winston - Longing/Love  
_Sentenced - Killing me, killing you  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~**

『„ø¤º°°º¤ø„¸¸„**P a r a l l e l **  
_O p p o s i t e_„¸¸„ø¤º°°º¤ø„』

****

**Prologue**

Celestial beings were always one for peace, a last resort would be going through war with Demon_—_or Daemon_—_Emperor and his little hellish beings along with him. No, he is not living in a fiery inferno with a cave-like scenery and a trident beside him. The Emperor is just a—from what she heard of passing gossip—arrogant, egotistical being in the galaxy. As most Celestians refer to him the 'Devil's incarnate', just because all his servants that have already been put into Silence. While most properly fear him, the worst-possible case scenario would to revolt against the Emperor. Dawn placed down the century-old hardcover book on the coffee table, sighing to some of the letters already being faded in result of so much neglect.

Cerulean eyes roamed to the sleeping creatures in her room, grinning to the memories of her Piplup that has already been raised with love to be a fearless Empoleon, with a mighty strength that can be quite ruthless. Only when this blue emperor is fast asleep, its image can be ruined when it sometimes ends up in its habitual messy sleeping position, along the side of its neck was her precious Riolu. As a Celestian trainer, there was a strict restriction of _only_ owning two of these creatures, these 'Pokémon'. Resting her head beside Empoleon, she giggled silently when the penguin stirred, moving Riolu down with it.

Ever since Dawn obtained Riolu from Riley, Empoleon has never been anymore happier, nonetheless alone. At certain times, Dawn had to go through mission without her Pokémon, leaving her Piplup—it was the youth of the evolution since Dawn had more missions at the time—alone. As time went by, Riley gave her an egg, thus hatching from what is now. Piplup evolved into its final form over time, always trying to hide being overprotective through tiny egoism. To put it simple, the sapphire haired frequently saw Empoleon sleeping on her bed with Riolu nuzzled quite close, like a stuffed bear for children.

Rising from her bed, her eyes glanced at the projected clock on the cushioned wall, '9:42'.

Drifting from the wall to her window, her bored expression reflected on the circular, glass window. Frown plastered mildly on the passing stars. Space felt like an endless abyss of nothingness. Yes, she was on a Celestial battle ship, currently taking subordinates from A-rank to S-rank.

Riley, an X-rank celestial, was the higher-ups of the chain: an archangel.

The girl wondered why would such a high-commanding commander of one of the four mightiest ships in all Celestia's power bring upon someone such as herself, a C-rank angel. Simple: Riley has a touch of carelessness, he was fond of Dawn. In other words, the blue haired man needed _decent_ company.

Dawn heaved a weary sigh, returning back to her bed—even if occupied—for good nap. Before even getting to her desired destination, an erupting shake made her loose footing. Her hand managed to clutch the wall before she fell; Dawn noticed her two partners shot up from her bed, looking around at their surrounds before Empoleon pointed at the window. Red beams scattered everywhere, hitting the ship with great impact, only some were deflected back through the shield.

Cursing her rank for her wings to not be fully developed enough for her to fly; they were stuffed inside her clothing. Motioning her partners to follow along, all three raced to the bridge—even if they were in space, there was gravity in check within the ship—where they confronted a screen projected. Someone's face covered in a mask, "That is all, Commander Riley." The stranger muttered as the signal finally cut off from transmission.

Dawn blinked several times, bewildered at the moment as the blue haired man growled. Fist slamming on the desk, his partner, Lucario, had its arm folded.

"Riley! What in the world is going on?" Dawn approached Riley, shaking his arm so he can respond.

Before looking at her, his voice grew demanding, "It seems the Emperor is asking for a fight, and a fight we shall give! Prepare the weapons at full throttle, the shields powers must reach maximum! If we are to die here, let us die with honor!"

All front roared with mighty power, Lucario nodded with the slightest smirk.

Dawn almost wanted to faint on the spot. Celestians were fierce, no doubt, but never immortal, "Riley, let's just warp. It would be suicide to stay!"

Riley never answered, only pressing a button from the keyboard as a large escape pod rose from the floor, opening up the secret cavern. With a touch to the glass, the pod opened, revealing enough space for Dawn and her Pokémon to enter. With a peer from Riley to Lucario, the strength enough of one single creature managed to shove the blue haired Celestian and the two propounded partners of hers. Closing the pod, Dawn violently tapped on the glass.

Riley: "I rather lose my life than have you die on me. Dawn, the Adamant Orb shattered into the pieces of land on Earth within the Sinnoh region. Do not worry; we'll make it out alive."

One of the other A-ranking angels stood right beside Riley with Hypno her partner, waiting until she received a signal from Riley.

The blue haired man continued, "It seems I placed a difficult task on your shoulders, but Dawn! You are to find the Orb before the Demon Emperor; it seems he will also be roaming around. This is why I gave Riolu to you for this very reason, you must find the Orb! Good luck--put her to sleep now, I will never let her see what might become of us."

The official nodded, "Hypno, you know the cue! Hypnosis!"

Before long, the yellow creature made all fall drowsy under its swinging pendulum object. Out of the three, Riolu was the last to be drifting to sleep, its paw touching the glass as Lucario paw also touched the same spot. The eldest smiled, communicating in silence as this was the last goodbye, and Riley also kneeled down, whispering, "Take care of her."

The pod dropped down from hatchet, strictly following its course to Earth with immense speed, miraculously missing beaming lasers along the way. Riolu lost its senses to sleep as soon as there was a ray of overbearing light from the Celestian battleship and the Emperor's battleship, never knowing who won the battle.

For Riolu, its ears picked up fainting words from Lucario.

**¤º°°º¤**

Dawn adjusted the speed to max, red puffy eyes trying to notice her location for the blue planet of flourishing life. Being a galaxy away, it will take at least several more hours with the adjusted speed to the pod. Her computer searched for 'Celestian Battleship number three coordinates', only to say there were no such thing beyond the radius, yet her hopes were slim. Riolu never said a word, aura emitting a disheartened feeling that gave Dawn only one result: they're gone.

It was the entire Emperor's and his moronic daemon associates at fault, why did they need the Orb in the first place? Power, what else was there? Dawn's eyed the screen, noticing the countdown time until further arrival. At least the pod resembled a mini ship, bathroom, minimal food, and everything. The blue orbed removed the Celestian clothing—her blue sundress—after drawing in modern clothing of earth. Thus, she can at least blend in while returning the pieces of the Orb back together.

After that!

After that?

After that…

Slipping on the red jacket, it was a big confusion. After gathering the Orb, then what? Riley must have left a note somewhere; there was no possible chance of accomplishing this mission solo. Carefully adjusting her white hat on, a free hand browsed through the white bag where the clothing was located, her finger felt gelid metal. It had two openings, one closed tightly and unable to release, so Dawn was left with the top opening. Crumbled and crushed, there was a small piece of paper, more importantly that it included Riley's writing.

_'Dearest Dawn,  
If you are reading this, then that means you must be prepared. I had a feeling that the Demon Emperor will attack, whilst your new mission. Actually, I was quite aware this will happen, the Adamant Orb and such. You cannot to do this alone, partners or no partners. As you reach Earth, find someone by the name of 'Volkner', he'll help you, I promise.  
--Riley.  
P.S. I have a personal message; you just can't open it until you meet Volkner. What it will say will mean dearest sincerity_.'

Dawn bit her lip, wrapping the white scarf around her neck to secure extra warmth, pink barrettes where placed on left and right to hold her hair into place. White socks held their hold on her knees, including the pink boots fastened tightly on for walking essentials. Blue eyes titled back, her two partners were asleep again, not as if they had anything better do to since this pod would be their momentary home.

Recovering small figments of her memories, the projected screen of the being in the mask gave her bewilderment, what is the Emperor's appearance? Someone small yet frightful? A teen? Scratch that. Someone husky? Never has the blue haired man ever spoke about the Emperor to Dawn, or even mention him, most likely since the Celestial teen never asked. Sighing, she took out one of the books stored within the pod, skimming the pages until she finally found it, "Aha! Daemon…Daemon…Useless!"

Tossing the book aside, she skimmed through others. Deeply fascinated actually learning about the ways of these plagues of the universe. Huddling her knees, the book was still being read, not that she would ever go against God, being the celestial being she is. _So, they can take form of humans also?_ The information she truly was looking for found its way to her, beginning with the first Emperor of the Daemon empire, some depicted crude pictures that was not even worth seeing. The headline on the next page read 'Mating.'

Curiosity was certainly a dreadful thing.

Furthermore, why are these books here in the first place? Why did Riley put these books here in the first place?

Reading through Celestian text, Dawn read, and read, and read. Eyes practically glued to the book to not notice how close to Earth she came, then blushing deeply when they came to one of the last few stages, 'Sign of Ownership.'

"A k-kiss mark? Wh-what vile cr-cr-creatures!" Stuttering out the words, Dawn flipped through the pages.

The new page, 'Unspeakable Silence.'

Her heart fluttered when she read 'Silence.' As much as Celestians were graceful beings, not all we're as great. How they manage to be Celestians when plotting against the All Mighty was beyond normal understanding. Riolu woke up, climbing up on Dawn's head to look at the book she was reading, "Riolu, listen to this! Celestian rank-S angel, May Maple, was meant to be placed into Silence after discoveries were found with the ninth Emperor, Drew. Her relationship was kept in secret, willingly requested to spy on Celestians plans for any upcoming battle strategies. Her secret was unraveled when deflowered by the Emperor, becoming pregnant as a result. Emperor Drew was assassinated in result for alluring captivation with the Celestian. As for Maple, her trial in Silence was breaching close. Throughout recorded Celestian history, this happen twice, except May Maple manage to escape silence in the only way possible: suicide…"

Riolu titled its head to the side, figuring out why his owner was frowning.

"It seems like a really sad cliché of Romeo and Juliet. Right, Riolu?" Dawn muttered silently, scratching the back of the small blue creature's ear, smiling in response to the reaction.

Going to the next page, she browsed the histories of the next Emperor.  
The current one.

"How odd, Riolu. The page is ripped…"

Now it was time for Dawn to get more sleep, only a few more hours until arriving to Earth.

---

It was one thing to wake up crashing, but another thing to almost be close to drowning in a closed pod. Blue eyes fluttered open in response to a certain wetness around her waist, panicking when the pod was submerged in water. Her partners awoke with shock, Empoleon slashed through the glass as more water poured in. Dawn cupped Riolu with her, clutching onto Empoleon's back, the penguin shot like a missile underwater; at rapid speed it arrived to the surface, looking worriedly back at the two passengers. Riolu gasped for dear air, Dawn was just as frightful as oxygen flowed back into place.

Empoleon helped them to land, quicker than expected. Dejected, Dawn kicked the ground, "Man, all those precious materials gone!"

Empoleon nudged itself back in water, willing to retrieve any soggy material until the creature got a gentle hug from its trainer instead, "Thank you, Empoleon, you saved me. Forget about those things, not like they were that important to begin wi--"

Collapsing on the floor, Riolu tapped the unconscious teen. Fretting nervously when she did not stir, at least she did breathe.

Empoleon exposed it's razor-sharp, penguin flippers/wings. The edge shined in the sun, exposing the fear to the small and weaker Pokémon that dare approach the girl. Especially the tall blond male coming closer, a perfectly conditioned Luxray with a Raichu following not too far behind.

"Looks like that transmission I got from Riley wasn't a complete lie."

Dawn's partners eased protection when hearing the name of Riley being spoken, still pondering the idea to trust this male.

Riolu climbed onto Empoleon, seating itself on the head of the blue emperor. It was currently holding softly on the long horns, dignifying strength to the emperor penguin. They all followed the blond man who carried Dawn bridal-style and his partners, never giving a thought to the drifting photo in the lake of Dawn and Riley smiling brightly with one another. In a faint corner exposed Riley's angelic wings, so graceful, so elegant.

The photo was taken in the hand of a purple haired teen, stuffing the picture in his pocket, glancing at the leaving creatures and humans until they became only dots in the distance.

**¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤**

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**A/N: Don't assume anything yet~! ;D Well, hope ya liked that. Fast-paced, but completely necessary! Remember to ANSWER MY POLL, tis located on mii profile. :3 Don't worry, just an opinion question. DON'T KILL ME FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO RILEY! Hey, I told ya not to assume anything, YET. Kinda confused? GREAT~! :DDD Don't worry, things will be explained when the times comes. I'm trying to make this as steady as possible, for the sake of the plot. Sorry if there was any bore, things will get WAY better, mii promises~! You know what is the greatest reward right now, to click that little tab to submit a review. That is oodles of delightfulness. :)**


	2. Quest & Partnership

**A/N****: Who saw the** **Pokémon marathon on Monday? I did, I did~ xD Goes to show I don't have a life, but all worth it! I did miss several episodes, and couldn't even find it online D: THE ****MARATHON**** SAVED ME. THANK YOU CARTOONNETWORK, YOU GUYS GAVE ME INSPIRATION TO CONTINUE xDDD Ahem. Besides the point of getting no reviews, I'm good :) I write 'cause I love to, THAT'S PASSION. Hmm, maybe you guys aren't drawed in yet? Ah well, later is gets way better ;D I still want to thank all those wonderful hits I got, it was certainly many of you guys~! Read dearies, I end my talking. :D  
Summary:** Suddenly attacked by the enemy ship, Dawn watches as her greatest fear unfolds. With a chance safety, she is forcefully shoved into the escape pod. Now, it's up to her to find the scattered pieces of the adamant orb in Sinnoh, with a little help, that is. IKARISHIPPING/AU.  
**Extra note:** _Thoughts_ will be written in _italics_. Besides the point of Pokémon strange strength and my lack of description, hopefully I'll be later able to explain. If I can't, PM or something. I don't bite :D Still unclear? Dayum, then I really suck. :P  
**Disclaimer:** Anybody ever sulked in a corner with this label always mocking them? Pshaw, it happened to me countless times~! I swear this is another form of emotional abuse. xD  
**Playlist/Song of choice**: Like I do before in other previous fics, I'll repeat myself like a broken record. I have two in store for each chapter, one '_instrumental_', one that is 'normal'. Go ahead; you're free to choose which one~ Just in case you have different preferences! Artist/band first, song next.  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~  
**_J.S. Bach - Toccata und Fuge BWV 565_  
Poets of the Fall - Locking up the Sun  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~**

**Please refer back to the Prologue for any additional information.**

『„ø¤º°°º¤ø„¸¸„**P a r a l l e l **  
_O p p o s i t e_„¸¸„ø¤º°°º¤ø„』

**Chapter 1**: Quest & Partnership

Everything was almost hazy when her eyelids fluttered open, the patch on her head slid off when she arose from pink bed, checking her surroundings with her adjusting azure orbs. Peering at her clothing, it was perfectly in one piece with no smears or splotch marks of muck of any kind. _What in the world happened? _Her frown deepened, she expected to be in a room in Celestia's ship, waiting for the signal from Riley for their afternoon chattering. Not likely that will happened, whilst her new mission to secure the Adamant Orb that could be scattered practically anywhere in Sinnoh at this very moment, and what if someone has already taken the shattered shards? It was never likely to just give it back if they knew its true power.

Crestfallen, Dawn nuzzled into her wool blanket, pondering if she can really accomplish this task even with the help of this 'Volkner' fellow in which the note has spoken about. Glancing around to her surroundings once more, the strike of fear overpowered her when she realized her partners are nowhere in sight, even predicting the worse possible case scenario if they were taken away during her absence of consciousness. Rushing down the flight of the only stairs in the room, she froze midway when her Riolu was playing with the tail of a Raichu, nearby with a Luxray snoozing on the sofa. Around the table in the corner of what seems like a kitchen, her penguin partner ate its meal across from a blond man sipping on a mug.

Riolu was the first to notice her existence, ceasing to play with the tail of Raichu; Riolu tackled its owner neck with much love that it made her giggle to some extent. Due to the noise, the male cocked his head to the side, waving and sipping his mug nevertheless. Being a gesture, Dawn held Riolu's positioning on her arm, with her free hand she waved back. Taking the last few steps, the blue haired carefully placed Riolu on the wooden floor to continue playing with Raichu's tail as she gave a stern look at the blond stranger, "And you are?" She inquired, tilting her head to the side to give off the feeling of confusion. Detailing everything around the figure, just in case is anything was to happen. It's better safe than sorry, for all she knows, this stranger could just kill her on the spot if he wanted to. The girl shudder the thought away and stiffened.

"Is that anyway to speak to someone who saved you?" Dawn mentally grinned, it almost sounded as if he were lamenting the fake gratitude, "The name's Volkner." Approaching Dawn, he extended a hand out which Dawn quickly shook, at least her worries settled until realization came in a turmoil.

Clutching his hands in hers, she spoke with much desperation, "Riley…he mentioned you in the note! Please--" Her legs almost trembled, fighting back unneeded tears, "--help me! Riley, he is probably…dead…" Portions of flashbacks of the blue haired man, the greatest comfort with her, always there for her, vanishing from the fierce power of the enemy ship, all because the selfishness in power of that accursed Demon Emperor.

Volkner manage to get one hand freed, he ruffled Dawn's silky cobalt hair, "I'm conscious of the status, which is why I planned ahead of time." Getting his other hand free, he tugged down the clothing on Dawn's left shoulder, ignoring her small protest and the glares coming from her partners. The wing sprang out; Volkner touched the feather's texture and slid a hand between the middle of both wings. Finally patting her on the back, he slid the clothing back to her now un-bare shoulder, Volkner's blue eyes settling to the window.

Dawn: "What-what was that for?!" Cupping one hand to her face, she tried to hide away the tingling sensation of heat coming to her cheeks, the blush that seems to be deepening in color.

For the longest time, Volkner did not utter a word. Assuming so, the Celestian teen probably thought he wouldn't want to harp on the subject any longer until he spoke only four words, "Determining, protection, and experimenting."

That said Dawn took a seat beside her precious penguin partner, munching the food prepared for her, happily eating the scraps with much delight to the wonderful taste of the food. Gulping down the eggs with a cup of orange juice, Dawn finally thought it was time to break the silence, "Volkner, what was it that you 'planned ahead of time'?" Her voice appeared to break Volkner out of daze from the window, for the moment he look puzzled until he regained back composure. Crossing his arms, his gaze managed to spur a summersault in Dawn's stomach.

"My guess to where the tracked pieces of the Adamant Orb are located." Volkner pried away from the window, bending down to the level of the television. Fishing inside one of the cabinets beneath said television, Volkner grabbed a map and placed it on the table for Dawn to see with an ever-so-curious Empoleon, "There are eight gyms and gym leaders in Sinnoh, which means there are eight shards of the Adamant Orb in place. Your question might be: 'How can we so sure that they are just located in the gyms?' right?" Dawn gave a silent nod before Volkner continued, "This is only a guess, but with this I'm truly clarify since I am one of the leaders."

Dawn glanced up, gasping when Volkner held out a large shard of the Adamant Orb in his hand. Before Dawn was able to take it, he hid it behind his back, "Who said I was just going to give this away? You have to earn it, Celestian trainer Dawn."

Anger boiled in her veins, the teen pounded her fist on the table, shaking the emperor penguin's meal just a tad bit. She couldn't believe it, here the Demon Emperor wants power, how can she be certain to get Volkner's piece before the Emperor does? It was complete and irrational nonsense, "This is not a game, Volkner! The _Demon_ Emperor is _searching_ for them at this very moment!"

Volkner only smirked, stuffing the shard in a small bag, "Oh, this _is_ a game, you have to begin with the first gym leader and work your way to face me, it's about time I had some enjoyment."

Dawn didn't debate further, only just asking further questions, "I'm at a disadvantage, I'm only able to own _two_ partners, I might face leaders with more than two or I seriously need more than two to even face them! Now what am I suppose to do? Since the Emperor never applies to the rules, if I were ever to face him…I'd lose, even with the help of Empoleon and Riolu. They are just—not enough…" Her blue eyes downcast on the wooden surface, looking more interested at the small cracks than her scowling Pokémon. Yet they knew that it was still the harsh truth.

The blond grunted, "Bend the rules or get company. You are aware I'm only here to inform, not help. As much as traveling sounds nice, I have a gym with trainers always waiting. If you need more information on the way, just use this communicator." Tossing a round object in Dawn's hand, she eyed the blinking light for a moment before stuffing it inside her bag. This reminded her, the box-shaped object Riley wanted her to show to Volkner.

Searching within the bag, she took out the object and held it over to Volkner, he never commented, nevertheless took out a key, placing it on the top opening, "At least now I know what he wanted me to do with that key. Don't open it just yet until the time is right, I think he would want you to wait until you're ready."

Dawn nodded, placing the key and box in her bag, check and secured. The two departed out of the small house, along with all their partners following along. Volkner hid along the corner of the tiny town, his two partners very attached to him as the blond man unfolded his wings, he sensed Dawn's questioning look, "S-rank, I'm an S-rank. Have a safe trip on your new journey, Dawn." Volkner remarked, grinning sheepishly.

As Dawn blinked, Volkner was gone.

---

"C'mon guys, we're almost halfway to Jublife city!"

By the third trainer that asked for a battle, Dawn just couldn't refuse the small children's enthusiasm to try to win, which always ended up as a total failure as Empoleon was always the one to fight, being the strongest in the party thus far. That was until Riolu stepped into battle with trainer number three who used a very weak Shinx. Being Riolu's first time, Dawn started off with a quick attack to begin with, knocking the Shinx without mercy.

Dawn felt proud of her little Riolu, she never ordered another attack and half-expected this new blast of unpredictable and unexpected power, a blue sphere of…aura? Dawn hesitated, "Riolu, use aura sphere on Shinx!"

Nodding, the blue sphere shot to the small blue creature, ending the battle with money earned as a reward. Clutching the small blue partner in her arms, she hugged Riolu, "Whoa, I never knew how strong you really were! To think only Lucario's are able to learn that." Happily, Dawn shook the small forepaw as if Riolu was an infant.

Empoleon nodded to the comment, then twitching and growling to a rare presence, along with Riolu preparing an attack of another aura sphere. The atmosphere quickly changed, the sky felt darker than the radiant blue-sky it once was. Dawn held Riolu close her, a barely audible shuffled near the grass made the Celestian teen spin in her heels, her eyes never leaving the sound. From the corner of her eyes as she looked around, Dawn came to realize it was only a purple haired teen. Question is what is with that smug smirk of his?

"Here I thought that aura sphere came from a wild Lucario, seems I was wrong."

Dawn tensed, what just happened to those entire trainers, those children? There is just no possible way they could have gotten somewhere that quick. The intimidation of the stranger sent chills down her spine, no less of the keen look on Riolu, as if he wanted the creature of for his own. The thought gave her a fright, Dawn held Riolu even more protective and gladly smiled when Empoleon stood in front of her, the knife-edged flippers held out in a defensive position, giving off the vibe of cutting anything in two.

"Hmph, aura sphere or not, that Riolu is nothing but weak."

She glared back, "Who are you to judge my Riolu?!" Dawn growled, Riolu was never one to fully consider other individuals thoughts, but being called 'weak' made the red eyes glum down at its paws. Empoleon gave Riolu a look, the little bits of shine from the sun reflected on the edges of the flippers, radiating the sleek and sharpness for a more daunting exterior.

_'Bend the rules or get company.'_

Tsking to the last minute voice from Volkner, if this arrogant guy wanted to test potency, then so be it! If he's worth it, Dawn has no choice but to accompany this one for his might in battling. The faster she gets the shards, the faster she can see if Riley is truly dead or not. Between her pondering, Dawn realized her partners will definitely not enjoy themselves working beside this stranger. Gulping the lump in her throat, she dared the idea, "Let's have one-on-one battle then! I choose my Empoleon, if I'm to win; I want a favor from you!"

His smirk became grimmer of pure intent glee; he released one poké ball from his pocket, "I'm not willing to lose to someone like you."

---

In the Pokémon center of Jublife city, Dawn sat beside her injured and enraged Empoleon, her fingers sending soothing circles around Empoleon's back, "It was a tie, you did great! If we were a little bit more prepared, we could have taken down that Torterra in a heart beat! Don't blame yourself, Empoleon." Even with words, it just seemed her penguin partner just wanted to be left alone, not even Riolu's presence calmed the angry creature from its previous battle. Sighing, Dawn departed the room, returning back to the main lobby where the purple haired teen rested in one of the seating areas.

"I didn't expect you willing to keep your end of the bargain, being a tie and all." Dawn took the farthest corner of the sofa, nervously playing with her fingers from the tense and bitter atmosphere being radiated from the purple haired teen, "I'm Dawn, and you?"

He never answered, which only irritated Dawn more due to the lack or consideration or artificial partnership, Nurse Joy held out the stranger's poké ball, "Your Torterra is back to perfect heath, Paul."

A low 'thank you' escaped his lips, hiding away the capsule in the barely-seen belt. Well, at least Dawn finally found out his name—even if it had to be said by the nurse of the center—and he did agree to travel with her—he never really 'agreed', he just stayed silent around her and never answered Dawn's questions—it was at least a start, right? Though, she couldn't shake off the glare Riolu kept sending to Paul, like he was never the safest individual to be around with in the first place.

Another question is how can she convince him to cooperate to use his partners for her sake? As in, if there is a leader she is unable to withstand, how can she try to make Paul assist her to use or let her use _his_ Pokémon? Being the sour one, she has no chance but to find another partner instead. Albeit, he is the strongest, that is something she will not deny.

Oh, life is starting to suck.

Finally in a serious mode, she crossed her legs, "Alright, I'm already aware you don't like me. That put aside, I have a…unbreakable tradition to own only two Pokémon, and I need a certain…token by each gym leaders in Sinnoh. Will you aid me, please?" Half of it was an obvious lie, oh how she could be sinned for such fowl act. Yonder the idea of getting help and trying to save this universe, consequences could be worried about later.

A pleading bow and uncertainty to what he will say.

Alas, how Dawn was scared that he will just walk away with cocky chuckle, mock her weakness.  
How he might just ask questions that will cause her to breakdown and reveal all true secrets.  
Never has she sensed this fear around anyone, what makes him an exception? Even Riolu felt the fright within Dawn, making it just as surprise.

The sapphire orbed grit her teeth together: _Just give me an answer!_

**¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤**

**A/N: See why this is categorized in 'adventure'? Not to speedy, right? No, it's won't be SUPER LONG TALE. Or SUPER -BORING- LONG TALE. Nah, I want to include fluffyness. No matter how hard that will be. . . Give it a chance? It IS just the beginning. Excuse any OOC, chapter 2 should be coming out any time now~! Oh, and why are the Pokémon so powerful at this moment, it might be explained in a different way, here is the easier way: Training XD :D Passing note, what Dawn is wearing is the platinum outfit, got it? Paul. . . He's wearing the same thing, like in the anime. XDDDD Hahaha, he's not special.**


	3. Hope & Winning

**A/N: I'm annoyed; I missed out in two new episodes of Pokemon. I was like, "ZOMFG, DARNIT." I'm starting to hate sleep, I blame it. Pshaw. It took me a while to plan, and I still got no idea what I'm gonna be typing. Erm, I'll go along with the flow? Um. . .Sure, why not? XD Excuse any mistakes that you may spot, I try my best to find them D: Going on, I'm getting the worse of luck. I usually get an A of my exams/quiz. . I got a 22 DX The next, my family is riled up for an argument. Whoa, when I look at it, I can be a VERY angsty teenager... XD Dewds, who got dissapointed when Jun came into the show? WTFH. BARRY?! BARRY?!?!? Sorry, I just thought the name was totally irrational, Daimon sounds WAY better. Gawd. ;-v-;  
Summary:** Suddenly attacked by the enemy ship, Dawn watches as her greatest fear unfolds. With a chance safety, she is forcefully shoved into the escape pod. Now, it's up to her to find the scattered pieces of the adamant orb in Sinnoh, with a little help, that is. IKARISHIPPING/AU.  
**Extra note:** _Thoughts_ will be written in _italics_. Besides the point of Pokémon strange strength and my lack of description, hopefully I'll be later able to explain. If I can't, PM or something. I don't bite :D Still unclear? Dayum, then I really suck. :P  
**Disclaimer:** This LABEL is popping and making its way to my brain, CURSE YOU, YOU INFURITATING THINGY-MA-JIG. GWARGH.  
**Playlist/Song of choice**: Like I do before in other previous fics, I'll repeat myself like a broken record. I have two in store for each chapter, one '_instrumental_', one that is 'normal'. Go ahead; you're free to choose which one~ Just in case you have different preferences! Artist/band first, song next.  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~  
**_JennaAnne - Beauty and the Beast prologue_  
Cute is what we aim for - Practice makes perfect  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~**

**Please refer back to the Prologue for any additional information.**

『„ø¤º°°º¤ø„¸¸„**P a r a l l e l  
**_O p p o s i t e_„¸¸„ø¤º°°º¤ø„』

**Chapter 2**: Hope & Winning

Once Paul even opened his mouth, Dawn was to tense to even listen, which is why she stormed out with her Riolu trying its hardest to catch up to its trainer. The pair made it to the farthest end of route 203; she ignored some trainers looking for a battle before entering the first gym as a way to 'get prepared.' Sighing, she leaned against the alcove entrance, her legs quivering to the feeling of cold wet dew that hasn't dried up yet; she feared the worse if her bottom had a large wet spot, making it more of a reason to not get up. Riolu panted when resting next to Dawn, quickly exhausted from the dash to the very end of the route, Dawn felt a little worriment for Riolu leaving Empoleon behind in the center all alone.

Her ears perked up hearing the conversation between trainers, all of them spoke about a 'grand prize' and 'Roark, the rock-user.' To this, her grin increased, she has the perfect pair, but with her now is just her little Riolu. Her blue worried eyes gazed down at the small body, wondering if it can possibly take down whatever comes her way. Dawn ponder the idea, letting her gaze be directed at the blades of grass being crushed under her foot. Riolu would give her the upper hand for the fact it is a fighting type, and against rock type would be very effective, her only problem is: Riolu isn't _that_ experienced when it comes to battling. Now, her Empoleon is a water/steel type, another fine advantage for a sure-fired win, no less since Empoleon is just as strong as Paul's Torterra: a grass/ground type.

Riolu bitterly bit its tongue, sensing her emotions to be a state of confusion.

"Maybe we should get Empoleon back after all; it will be a quick win. All these trainers are starting to learn about the prize: the Adamant Orb. Yeah, c'mon Riolu, let's get--"

She squeaked for the first time in her life when she was going to stand up, her own Pokémon, her own Riolu just bit her hand! The bite seemed nasty as little fangs sunk deeper, she noticed the quiver in Riolu's red eyes, determined and scared for whatever is her reaction. Dawn sighed, but brought out a smile to pat Riolu's head with her free hand, and just as she did that, Riolu steadily released its fangs, mouth open slightly with an 'o'.

"Thanks Riolu, I deserved that. I'm sorry I wasn't confident in your abilities, I'm a horrible trainer. C'mon, only the two of us will go beat Roark! You can bet your little paws that Empoleon is gonna be mad for leaving 'em behind, but darn proud to know you beat the gym leader! Onwards to the gym!"

Riolu cheered, laughing quietly before entering the cave with its now-quirky trainer. The cave seem to be echoing their steps, the droplets from the caverns made a noise louder than usual which startled Dawn every so often, but Riolu kept stern and walked forward. A little camper crossed their way, preparing a poké ball in her small hand as she yelled out to battle, something Dawn couldn't refuse for extra practice before battling the gym leader. The camper girl drew out her Zubat, the stupid bat kept fluttering away from Riolu's force palm, thus annoying her to every extent, yet Dawn found her flaw thanks to her camper opponent: she needs to come up with strategy with every battle. Her fist calmed its clenching, "Riolu, bring down the stalactites, use force palm on stalagmites, and make sure they direct upwards!"

The camper girl seem to be very vexed what Dawn was blabbering about, her Zubat didn't even look like it was close to worrying. The stalactites began to drop down like a pin needle, the camper sent out so many directions that her Zubat couldn't follow, but even that didn't make much damage. Riolu used the attack demanded on the large chunk of rock; little pieces flew everywhere knocking the Zubat to an instant K.O. With that win, Dawn congratulated her little Riolu, scooping the little blue creature in her arms while they walked out of the cave. Her vision became blurry for the moment after being adjusted to the dark.

Scrambling out of the mess, she took a peek at the sign 'Oreburgh City - City of Energy'. Shrugging, she throttled around the dusty terrain when finally meeting the entrance of the gym. In the distance, a red haired young man seem to be coming close by, a rag around his neck wiped away the sweat trickling down his neck. As he approached the entrance, maroon eyes set his sights on deep azure, smiling he began, "Hey, you must be my newest trainer. Come, I'm just in the mood for a good battle after mining!"

_So that's what it meant by 'City of __Energy__'._

Dawn gulped, twiddling her fingers and keeping her eyes glued directly at her pink boots, the traces of her white scarf dangling from her neck, the feeling of her white hat tipping off at one side. Riolu appeared equally nervous, prodding not to far away from Dawn when they took there side of the arena. Roark was enthusiastic, grinning a reassuring look towards Dawn. The referee began proclaiming the rules; he was awfully amused that Dawn only had one pokémon with her at the time.

"Alright Riolu, it's all you!"

Riolu nodded, stepping on the battleground with its red eyes never leaving the traces of Roark taking out his poké ball.

Roark: "Come on out, Geodude!"

Dawn bit her lip, taking a quickly look at her surroundings, her eyes measured the scale of the wall and how hard it was to reach proximity, "Riolu, jump the walls with quick attack!" Hopefully, this wasn't against the rules to reach out the boundaries of the small arena. Riolu wanted to give a quick glance back, but avoided a full impact of tackle attack from Geodude.

"Force palm!"

Riolu back legs touched the wall; the blue creature sprinted from the wall to its opponent like a spring. Riolu's power unleashed once getting contact with the rock pokémon, already knocked out when finally returning to its ball. Roark grunted, but still kept his smile perfectly intact when releasing out a giant Onix. The slithering rock snake used bind on Riolu, trapping Dawn's pokémon in a desperate attempt to keep breathing and squirm away from the tightening rocks.

"Riolu, you can do it! Reversal!"

In a futile attempt, Riolu got one paw out of the slithering rock snake, but that much strength was wearing Riolu out, even Dawn was worried that she might already lose. Shaking her head violently, she ordered, "Aura sphere, full power!" Riolu listened on demand, lifting its one free paw, jabbing the sphere of power and aura into one of the largest of the rocks it could reach. Onix growled, seemingly hurt yet not down for the count, Roark wasn't audible enough for Riolu or Dawn to hear, by Onix was already charging towards Riolu.

Riolu limped, one leg very bruised from the constant struggle it went through to get away from the rocks, when worse came to worse, Dawn already gave up. She went to her knees, pounding her fist into the ground trying to hide away her tears forming in her eyes. Riolu looked back disappointed, knowing just as well it couldn't stand much of a chance. Instead of listening to its trainer, it created another aura sphere, jumping quick enough whilst Onix failed to attack it. The aura sphere was pounded strongly on the head of Onix, knocking it out upon impact.

Dawn looked up, faintly smiling from losing hope too soon, only now Riolu was limping worse than before. Panting even harder than it was before, for goodness sake, its little forepaw was holding onto its knee for support!

"'Poleon!"

The Celestian cocked her head, blue eyes widening to see her emperor penguin back to perfect health, determined and angered for being left behind. She jolted upwards, surprised to see Paul right behind her pokémon, arms crossed and looking everywhere instead of Dawn. With her snow-white scarf, she wiped away all her tears when her Empoleon approached her, shrugging her off when the penguin stood beside her.

Relieved, she ordered one more amount of power from Riolu as Roark's Cranidos waited patiently for Dawn's little episode to be done.

"Riolu, use force palm on the ground, create deep cracks all around!"

Paul lifted an eyebrow when sitting patiently in the bleachers as he walked his way there, hiding away his curiosity by slouching down in a lethargic manner. Riolu nodded, pounding its paws on the ground, creating a rumble like a magnitude of three to four. Dawn called her Riolu back, Empoleon didn't need to be called out and rather when out on its own. The flipper patted Riolu's head, making the small blue creature smile widen before being scooped up in Dawn's arm, cradled like it was an infant.

"Let's finish this quick! Empoleon, aqua jet around the arena, land the water around the cracks!"

In a rapid speed, Empoleon speed compared to a jet boat when storming down water on the cracks. The direction was a full square, going vertical and across in the middle, creating an intersection between the streams of water, hitting Cranidos every so often. Roark struggled to keep track and determine her actions, but Dawn grinned when she told her penguin to stop.

"Ready partner? Bring all the water up with whirlpool!"

A thick stream of water strings rose, shooting up until reaching a very strong whirlpool that was crashed down on Cranidos. The dust cleared away, Empoleon wasn't even touched, scratched, or tired whatsoever. The emperor penguin returned to its trainer by stepping out of the arena, already fully aware that Cranidos was knocked out. The referee and Paul were both astound by her strategy, but Paul manages to give off the look 'I could care less'.

"I gotta hand it to you, nice work Dawn. That was an excellent battle!"

Dawn received the Coal badge, even though it wasn't her true objective to own such a thing. The poster clinging onto the bleachers detailed the shards of the Adamant Orb in red letters, offering to whoever wins against the gym leaders. Worrying she might have gotten here a bit too late; Dawn was reassured once Roark was holding out a large piece of the Orb, thus Dawn thankfully took with much delight.

_It's…really pretty._

A ringing made Dawn shriek, almost dropping the orb in the process, she even noticed Paul gripping the bleachers tightly when almost letting the Orb plummet.

_Weirdo._

The Celestian rummaged in her white bag, taking out the communicator Volkner gave her a while ago. The screen was only static before showing Volkner's neutral bored-like expression.

"Volkner, I got it! I got through the first gym, and the Orb is secured!"

He pepped up a little, eyes softening with a tiny grin, "Congrat--"

"--latory trainer!" A bush of curly red hair was in front of the screen, blocking out Volkner's face from the screen, "This is Flint! Good to know little Volky is finally getting friends!"

Volkner: "Hey!"

The bush of curly hair still continued to banter, Dawn's eyes began to twitch if there was even a face present, "Umm, can I speak with Volkner?"

Roark was stunned, saunter to Dawn's side before peeking at the screen.

"Aw fine, you can speak to _my_ little Volkner."

The teen was just down right puzzled, she didn't even mind when Roark took the communicator from her hands, glaring deathly at the screen, "_Your _Volkner? When was he _your_ Volkner?"

Flint: "Oh pumpernickel…gotta go!" The bush of curly red hair left the screen. Volkner rubbed his temples to keep calm and stay under control when his blue eyes widened in horror to see Roark angered on the screen. Suggestively, he waved his hand to see if it was possible Roark wasn't that mad, "Uh, hi?"

"I knew it was better to not trust you!" Roark pinned down the button of the communicator; he placed it back in Dawn's hand before slamming the door out of the gym.

Dawn couldn't be anymore lost, but rather walked over to Paul, nervously laughing and obviously tried to avoid eye contact, "Sorry by leaving my Empoleon in your hands." The female teen quickly apologized to her penguin as well.

Paul shrugged, "Who cares? And as for bolting out on me before I had the chance to answer, I'll help--no matter how much I don't want to."

Giggling, Dawn jumped merrily and held Paul's hand in her own, flapping his arm up and down before she it was time to let go before he reuses instead.

The Celestian looked at her pokémon before announcing, "Next off, Eterna city!"

**¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤**

**A/N: Rushed, I know. Mistakes, I know. Description - bad quality, I know! Geez. xD And no, the people of Sinnoh don't know what the Adamant Orb really is. (Prize, _hello_?) ...Been a while since I updated this! Oh yeah, please answer mii poll on my profile! :)**


	4. Running & Going

**A/N****: Well, this has been a very silent month for me. And I am beyond pissed off at the moment. After a long wait from playing Pokemon Platnium, I was facing Palmer. WTF. He had a milotic, rhyperior, and dragonite. The first time, it took one hell of a long time to beat that little freakin beauty-snake thing. -.- And I used my Tyranitar aginst Rhyperior, and using Earthquake and all, IT BARELY MAKES ANY DAMAGE. My second try, I used Tyranitar and made it learn thunder, THUNDER!!! It still BARELY makes any damage towards milotic. I never even got to Dragonite. D': DAMMIT, THAT STUPID PALMER. But I love him anyway. -w-  
Summary:** Suddenly attacked by the enemy ship, Dawn watches as her greatest fear unfolds. With a chance safety, she is forcefully shoved into the escape pod. Now, it's up to her to find the scattered pieces of the adamant orb in Sinnoh, with a little help, that is. IKARISHIPPING/AU.  
**Extra note:** _Thoughts_ will be written in _italics_. Besides the point of Pokémon strange strength and my lack of description, hopefully I'll be later able to explain. If I can't, PM or something. I don't bite :D Still unclear? Dayum, then I really suck. :P  
**Disclaimer:** This LABEL is popping and making its way to my brain, CURSE YOU, YOU INFURITATING THINGY-MA-JIG. GWARGH.  
**Playlist/Song of choice**: Like I do before in other previous fics, I'll repeat myself like a broken record. I have two in store for each chapter, one '_instrumenta/classical_', one that is 'normal'. Go ahead; you're free to choose which one~ Just in case you have different preferences! Artist/band first, song next.  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~  
**_P!nk - So what instrumental  
_Trading Yesterday - Shattered  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~**

**Please refer back to the Prologue for any additional information.**

『„ø¤º°°º¤ø„¸¸„**P a r a l l e l  
**_O p p o s i t e_„¸¸„ø¤º°°º¤ø„』

**Chapter 3: **Running & Going

The Celestian blunette kept in mind the little argument between Roark in Volkner, the idea of them fighting alienated her, and asking to herself just what was going on. Her partner, Paul, was just following along to where she was going. And as time flies, there would be no way she would go to the next city once the sun is going down. The next suggestion was just to take a rest at the Pokémon center, no less from the serious injuries surrounding Riolu's lithe body. And so, from the short course to the gym to the center, it was just a slow steady pace of silence. Yet, that stillness was disturbed from one camper and a group of other campers, snickering and laughing loudly.

"So, Tim, what are you going to do with it?" One of the camper girls asked.

"It's ugly and useless; I knew I should've never wasted my time to evolve it. Oh well, let someone else find it." Said the camper--apparently Tim—tossed a poké ball to the dusty rode as he finally entered the cavern with the rest of the small campers.

Dawn huffed, clicking her heels to pick the dust-smitten red and white ball as she clutched it securely in her hand, "How merciless! How could he just toss his friend like that?" She stormed back to where Paul resided, eyeing the poké ball in her hand with half-bored eyes.

The pair entered the center, letting Nurse Joy taking her Riolu to be healed in the room in the back. Dawn asked for two rooms, much to her dismay only one was available, but it will have to do. She sat on one of the benches, nervously gazing at the ball twirled around by her fingers.

"Come on out!"

For some reason, her eyes patiently waited for a majestic looking creature, or one with a fierce sense of intimidation as appearance like Empoleon, or something that will be perfect for combat like the evolution that may soon come for her Riolu. Thus, the blue haired Celestian closed her eyes for four seconds, opening for the surprise.

"Probo…"

A Probopass.  
Correction, a _shiny_ Probopass.

Dawn's right eye twitched, certainly the shiny was a plus, but overall...she felt to speechless to keep on thinking.

The large Probopass looked around, large aqua eyes watering when exiting from its ball – not from his trainer, but from someone else. It rested on the floor, sulking and tearing even harder. Dawn even had to admit being--shocked at first, but a pang in her heart made her just as guilty for quickly judging it. Carefully she approached the yellow creature and hugged it gently from its large nose, stroking soothing circles for it to calm down.

It took less than five minutes for the sniffling to cease and for the Probopass to feel a bit more comfortable with Dawn. And within another five minutes, it took her a while to comfort the Probopass and explained what the selfish little camper boy did to it. She pumped up her fist, smiling brightly at the shiny Probopass, "Don't worry! I'll make you strong, and prove to that kid you're better than he would ever think!"

The Probopass expressed happiness with the radiance in its eyes, excited to feel cared for.

All the more, Paul watched the whole scene before him, a little disgusted with friend-mushy aura between a trainer and a total stranger of a creature, the "happiness"-mush even appalled him utmost. The male just growled as he turned his heel towards the opposite direction, sneaking past the Chansey's running around. The teen crept towards an Empoleon and a half-sleeping Riolu conversing in one of the rooms.

Riolu's sensors perked up, red eyes darting towards the plum haired teen steeping inside the room with intimidation looming the two pokémons. Empoleon raised its flipper, the steel-bladed facing upwards for Paul to know ahead of time where to keep his distance and how far he can be towards the blue pair.

But Riolu was frightened, forcing all the wires connected to its lithe body to the floor, dangling from the machines whilst some plummeted towards the floor, the small blue creature scrambled to Empoleon's protection, hoisting upwards from body to Empoleon's horns.

"'Poleon, 'poleon."

The emperor penguin stood from its seat, taking two steps further whilst the blade on its flipper was just one inch away from Paul's neck.

The teen snickered, angering the blue penguin further, "Is that anyway to act towards to someone? With that much hostility?"

The Empoleon mentally twitched: _Right back at 'cha,_ the penguin thought.  
Riolu sweat dropped and thought something as well: _Hostile? Coming from the one that glares at us 24/7._

"I assume you're the loyal ones towards the stupid girl."

Empoleon was about to thrust the blade in Paul's throat, that was until Riolu struck the teen's cheek with force palm with its eyes closed shut, not noticing the mistake made when Empoleon let out its cry, forcing its eyes to open in shock of hitting the wrong person. Its large red eyes widened to hitting a girl: Dawn, the impact landing on her cheek.

Paul was taken aback, not expecting the trainer to come out of nowhere and stand in front--to protect?

Dawn's knees wobbled, then collapsing on the floor with a _thud_, her left hand stroked the injured spot and the unbearable pain throbbing and warming up. Riolu legs met the floor, examining its own paws with horror when the blue creature clenched them. Riolu jumped from the floor to Empoleon's horn and finally towards the window.

The Celestian jumped up, hissing back the pain as her fingers clenched the window sill, "Riolu, come back! I'm fine! Riolu! Riolu!"

Empoleon clutched its head the best it could with its hands from the flippers, getting a distinct message from Riolu, and with a nod from the penguin, it understood everything.

Probopass forced itself in the door as it finally found Dawn, confused to her tears and why Empoleon was staring at the shiny pokémon.

As for Paul, he crumbled the item in his hand and left the room.

---

It was midnight, but Dawn could not sleep with the running waterfall from her red puffy eyes, the full night and Riolu didn't return, even Empoleon seem to be hiding something. Probopass was just as lost, trying to comfort the Celestian in the best way it can. The teen roamed her white bag, clutching a large fragment of the Adamant Orb; however it wasn't what she was looking for. Her hand picked out the communicator, finally satisfied getting the right item. Dawn stepped out from the bunk bed, carefully tip-toeing out in order not to disturb Paul's sleep--the worst possible case scenario is the plum-haired teen lashing out on her.

She stepped into the dark lobby of the center with her bag, opening up the communicator while the light beeped frequently as the blurry static screen revealed Volkner's half-asleep face, "…Do you know what time is it?"

She sniffled, "V-V-Volk-ner…"

The half-asleep face turned wide awake, "H-hey now, what's…err…wrong?"

The blond gave her some time to relax, never speaking a word when the violent hiccupping turned to silent sobs. She explained her story, and midway she cut herself halfway--in an attempt to cheer herself--and picked out the Orb from her bag, "So, with this one, now will you give me your piece and make my life easier?"

Volkner chuckled lightly, "In all honesty, I'm avoiding and beating trainers that come to get the Orb as a prize. For all that trouble, you expect me to just hand it over?" Volkner wagged a finger on the screen, "I don't think so. I need some pep, so make my battle with you something for me to enjoy--win and the prize is yours."

Letting down the finger, he exposed the piece of the Orb, placing it back in position after showing it to the Celestian.

The girl went on with her story; Volkner never interrupted and listened closely.

"What do I do now? For all it seems, Riolu isn't coming back!"

"Don't think so negative, Riolu does concern itself you: its trainer, partner, and friend. Oddly, this situation is strangely reminding me of what happened the last time you contacted me." He bowed his head dejectedly, sighing deeply with his gloomy aura.

Dawn tilted her head, "Speaking of which, what was that whole brouhaha?"

Volkner hesitated, but finally he turned off the communicator on his side, leaving the Celestian hanging, "How rude!"

Dawn headed back to her room, Empoleon sleept on Probopass' nose, not even the creaking noise of the floorboards woke them up, and in other words, they must've been exhausted. There was a gap between the two, the perfect space for Riolu, that is, if Riolu was actually here with them. She bit her lip, preventing anymore tears falling from her red eyes, but it felt so lonely sleeping by her lonesome, even Riolu would occasionally convince Empoleon to sleeping with Dawn on the same bed. Sure there was always a cramp in the morning, yet it was fun waking up to two sleepy faces.

Her blue orbs eyed Paul's bed, taking note he slept in the far side of the twin-sized bed without falling, as of then the idea came to mind. Dangerous and most likely stupid, she crept towards Paul's bed, lifting up the covers and taking one side of the portion. For one thing, her eyes grew heavy quicker from taking a snooze on the bottom bunk than the top.

This was great. She is sleeping on the same bed of someone who glares at her and barely acknowledges, now if Riolu ever hear about this, boy will she never hear the end of it.

Giggling silently, she felt into a comfortable sleep, even if it was with someone who could barely come close to be labeled 'acquaintance.'

---

Was it luck?

The only thing she thought to that comment: _Who cares? I manage to come out alive!_

Dawn woke up bright and early--something that she was never use to--to scramble out of Paul's bed without disturbing him from the infernal springs hidden inside the mattress - no trouble at all!

_Okay, I'm lying._

She shook her head with a smile, fully dressed and showered and ready to train outside with her new Probopass, of course, including Empoleon. Sighing, she remembered Riolu just ran off, it was a question if the small blue creature would come back or rather be gone forever. Being pessimistic all the more, Dawn chose the latter of the situation and her mood deepened with a glum frown. Thinking back to that, training at the moment doesn't sound as appealing when it first came to her head in the morning.

Still crestfallen, the blunette dragged her pink boots towards the north of Oreburgh city, noticing the ramp towards Eterna city that can only be crossed with a bicycle.

...

Where in bloody hells name is she getting one in such short notice?

Her finger dug inside the white bag for a poké ball, clicking the small white button to enlarge said ball. Probopass was released, gazing its surrounds with soft azure orbs.

"Probopass," she said sternly, pointing one finger swiftly towards the base of the the rocky slope, "You somehow float! Can you get me up this ramp?"

The shiny pokémon nodded, both escalated towards a ledge for a more reachable distance whilst Dawn climbing up and apologizing when she accidentally clawed the sturdy body--in all honesty, Probopass did even feel anything and staring absent mindedly at the grass--as she climbed to Probopass' hat-like feature. Keeping blance, she stood from her kneeling position, and smiled brightly. It was perfectly reachable towards the other end, trainers everywhere called her "cheating," others thought it was "genius," but Dawn felt it was like common sense, despite usually lacking it.

She got Probopass into the ball once she climbed over, thanking it before stuffing it back in her white--slightly dirty now--bag.

Dawn pumped a fist in the air, "Score! Forget going past Eterna forest!"

The sound of bike chains locked with rocks, bending some small fragments of the metal as it was placed there and left alone, "Impatient, aren't we?"

Blue eyes were now fixed upon purple hues.

"Oh…sorry…"

Dawn actually forgot about his existence the whole time trying to scale the other side.

Empoleon made its way out of its poké ball all on its own, holding up the bladed flipper high and mighty.

Paul advert his eyes the other way, cupping a hand on his mouth to hide the snigger, "Control those 'friends' of yours. All they've been doing is trying to threaten me."

_I see why not_, Empoleon thoughtfully sniggered.

Dawn patted down the safe side of Empoleon's flippers, displaying to keep its guard down, "Now, now." She gave a gentle hug around the emperor penguin's neck, whispering only to the blue penguin, "…Thank you."

With that said, she latched onto the poké ball from her bag, letting the still angered but confused Empoleon return from the red beam to its ball. Once they were out of sight, the blunette securely placed the ball in her bag and giggled.

"Well, we should be going."

Her blue eyes were caught when a spunky ace trainer chatted with Paul; one hand was on her hip while the other swished her dark green locks in a haughty manner. Even if there was only a small distance between Dawn and the plum haired teen, she could notice a very glum scowl itched on his lips, the whole aura around his body can be described as only one word: '_doooooom_.'

The ace trainer called in a male ace trainer, he pointed one finger towards Paul as he announced, "Both of us want a battle! Let's see if you can take on two aces, unless you're a coward…" The male smirked, folding his arm as he waited for an answer.

Dawn dared to come closer and gulped; _This is not going to be pretty. It's like I can sense something in him just snapped. That guy just crossed the line…_

The female ace let out her Glameow, her partner called out Bibarel.

"This is a waste of time." Paul said, annoyed when keeping stress on the poké ball he fetched from his pocket, one purple eye glared at Dawn to at least get a hint on what she should do.

Dawn nervously fished out Empoleon, she mumbled a few words such as 'heartless' and 'what a meanie' from Paul's cold attitude towards her already.

The plum haired let out his Torterra, the large turtle giving quite a shake in the ground from one stomp.

The Celestian teen smacked her hand on her forehead, just after a few seconds where the whole battling clicked in Empoleon's mind of having to work with Torterra, that is.  
The same Torterra that didn't get beaten by Empoleon's power.  
The same Torterra that sent Empoleon to the center.  
The same Torterra that mucked up its perfect winning streak and let Riolu see said penguin in such a horrible state.

_Oh, this is not good...Empoleon never accepts defeat! Why didn't I just send out Probopass...Oh great!_

**¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤¤º°°º¤**

**A/N****: Erm, this was a very long wait. To be honest, I was actually on my way to update other things first; this was more like in the middle. But now for sanitary reasons, my school is being cleaned out! No school till next Tuesday! FAWK YEAH. Erm, now explanation time. I have a REAL reason for Riolu leaving, and I'm gonna keep quiet about it for now. Why did I choose Probopass? I honestly don't know. I went to the Pokemon marriland website, and randomly selected one, and also considered how it can match up towards other gym leaders. This seems rushed with a lack of description, I actually had a large major part of this done, but I held it off for a long time, I just lost the mood. So, hope ya enjoyed! Poll is on my profile~!**


	5. Trying & Haunted

**A/N****: I…uhh…apologize? I've been so busy…I'm lying. D: I was focused on my Star Ocean fic, I neglected all my other fics. If you think this is late, look at my profile. My Kingdom hearts fic hasn't been updated since…April! My other Pokémon fic was posted on February. Late much? ^w^; But I was just giving my pet iguana food that I got a tad slight ambition to update~ Enjoy~!  
Summary:** Suddenly attacked by the enemy ship, Dawn watches as her greatest fear unfolds. With a chance safety, she is forcefully shoved into the escape pod. Now it's up to her to find the scattered pieces of the Adamant Orb in Sinnoh with a little help, that is. IKARISHIPPING/AU.  
**Extra note:** _Thoughts_ will be written in _italics_. SC means Special Chapter. Heh, I'm trying to get Paul in character as much as possible. Am I doing it right?  
**Disclaimer:** Here we go again. Sigh. Do not own. Happy now?  
**Playlist/Song of choice**: Like I do before in other previous fics, I'll repeat myself like a broken record. I have two in store for each chapter, one '_instrumenta/classical_', one that is 'normal'. Go ahead; you're free to choose which one~ Just in case you have different preferences! Artist/band first, song next. And let not me forget to mention this, I usually listen to these songs while I'm typing, it sometimes doesn't match the chapter. Got it?  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~  
**_D.J. Amuro - AA  
_Naoki - Will  
**~.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.I.~**

**Please refer back to the Prologue for any additional information.**

『„ø¤º°°º¤ø„¸¸„**P a r a l l e l  
**_O p p o s i t e_„¸¸„ø¤º°°º¤ø„』

**Chapter 4**: Trying & Haunted

This is utterly the most embarrassing moment of her life; the chills from Paul's icy glare didn't provide much support to her discomfort. Instead of battling like intended a short moment ago, the two aces trainers backed away as much as possible with their pokémon as they watched with their very own eyes Torterra and Empoleon—mostly Empoleon—attacking one another with all their strength. The large turtle did not give much an effort to attack the furious emperor penguin, at every attempt Torterra calmly used protect or deflected Empoleon's attack with razor leaf. Dawn constantly tried to call back her partner, but the beam of red shot from her poké ball was easily evaded to hold out the fight a little longer. Her blue eyes subtly pleaded Paul to call back Torterra, but he seemed partially amused that Empoleon is close to its limit. After all, Torterra could effortlessly use synthesis on itself.

And yet at the same time Paul grew rapidly annoyed to waste so much time on a single quarrel. He shook his head in agitation and fetched his pokémon's ball, Paul's purple eyes were fixed on Empoleon. He then took a stance, ready to call back the large turtle-like beast until his eyes widened for the emperor penguin rose from the ground—since it landed there a while trying to conquer over the razor leaf Torterra shot at it—when a large amount of power formed in its mouth. Dawn had her mouth quivering for Empoleon to stop, and by the expression of her plum haired companion the move didn't look so much like a friendly one.

"Use frenzy plant, now!"

Dawn heavily gulped. She heard about special moves, but frenzy plant was truly a difficult and superior move. To think Paul could be so cruel to his pokémon but trained them to this extent. Her sapphire eyes adverted back to Empoleon, squinting, analyzing what move her pokémon could be using. In the end somehow neither of them won and came to realize later that her Empoleon - the same small penguin that grew so much has just learned hydro cannon all by itself without further guidance.

Now if the stress of the aftermath was not enough, the shortcut to get to Eterna city much more quickly backfired. Paul somehow acquired a bike out of the blue and yet here she was… bike-less. And without a bicycle for herself she cannot pass anyway without the counter ladies blocking the exit to non-bike owners. The Celestian teen fiddled her fingers together, fidgeting at the very least to ask her frustrated companion for further help.

"Get on." Paul said suddenly, his words lashing to Dawn as she gulped down the lump in her throat.

And so they wouldn't waste any more valuable time—as if they already haven't—Dawn stuttered a word of thanks before adjusting herself on the device. She promptly adjusted her feet on the crankset, Dawn hesitated to plop her hands on the other teen's shoulder, although the audible sound of teeth gritting made her think otherwise. The counter people let them go through the passage as they finally fix their ways to arrive even closer to Eterna city. The Celestian sighed in relief. This route is a better—still a hassle in its own way—to get the city and with a bonus point to avoid going through the murky forest.

Her eyes wanders to the side, from above she could see passing shrubs, berry trees, and various pokémon willing to engage in battle. Some were very small critters and it only made her think of her precious little Riolu. Her expression delved austere, clearly visualizing every memory with her two partners on the passing clouds…when the times were pretty decent before this entire trouble brew because a shattered orb and an invasion… _A__nd _speaking of a shattered orb Dawn vaguely remembered Riley in a conference with other higher-ranked angels. It was awful enough to remember Riley than the consequences of eavesdrop, but he also grew a temper those several days after finding out the Lustrous Orb is in the Demon Emperor's clutches.

All of Celestian groups were held responsible for Adamant Orb ever since. Dawn was not aware all her thoughts caused Paul to twitch; her nails were digging in his shoulder blades. She kept prying more out of the topic, how in the world did the Adamant Orb shatter in the first place? How was it drawn out? Straying from the subject, was it alright for Roark to see her communicator? And why does that strange redhead just butt in on said communicator. More or so on the notion Dawn grew probing - looks like Volkner will be getting another call. Unless he ends it halfway like the night before. Dawn's eye twitched.

How dare he cut her off so suddenly?

"Could you stop!?" barked Paul, his voice successfully penetrated through Dawn's contemplation for her cheeks to darken in various shades of red.

"S-sorry."

"If you're sorry, don't do it." He hissed further, gripping the handle bars tightly throughout his aggravation.

"Al-alright…" she squeaked, clamping her eyes shut from fear and embarrassment. So far these last few days were nothing but horrible. A little support could do her wonders, a pat in the back for reassurance that everything will be alright. That, of course, won't happen with Empoleon in dire need to go to a Pokémon Center—no less Torterra—or Probopass - they wouldn't be allowed under any condition unless asking one of these cyclists for a battle. Now if she had her little blue creature it would just plop itself on her head and nuzzle her for comfort.

Now that Riolu is gone, even that cannot happen.

---

To get along with another needs trust, to be able to get along or find each other in a perfect—if not almost—equilibrium in a way to rely on one another. That is always what Dawn figured, but once they entered Eterna city the blunette and Paul still were not in the best of terms - hell, they never were to begin with. The plum haired rubbed his shoulders since the other teen plunged her nails deep within the skin, but not to the extent of bleeding. Nevertheless his Torterra is injured after the incident with Empoleon as it was a full-powered hydro cannon versus a devastating frenzy plant. Not only that, her Riolu almost tried to attack said injured teen yesterday night. And the time before that Dawn left Empoleon in Paul's care without his consent when battling Roark. He has_ every_ right to stay quieter than usual.

_'I have to try!'_ Dawn thought, pumping a fist whilst following the male._ 'We have to get along!'_

"—she won't come back until later. Gardenia must still be looking at the Old Chateau."

"Oh well, she's just looking at it, right? I don't think she wants to be inside that freaky place. Didn't you hear that—"

Dawn eyed travelers chattering, so Gardenia was out? The blue haired quickly gasped, she had to challenge the Eterna city's gym leader before anyone can beat her to it or else she could say goodbye to a fragment of the Adamant Orb.

That is to say if she can actually beat Gardenia, clearly Dawn is at a disadvantage in one point: Probopass should not be used for this battle and Empoleon—as strong as it may be—can only handle so much even with all its powerful moves, no less since it doesn't know any ice attacks. Riolu is gone which leaves her on a single pokémon to fight against three—also from what she has heard—so what is she to do? Her sapphire eyes steadily made its way to the male; he stopped abruptly to look at the monument of a legendary pokémon. The keeper of time itself and the real keeper of the Adamant Orb: Dialga. The blue haired looked around to see if there is a monument of Palkia around…apparently not.

Dawn shook her head; this was not the time to dawdle in something so insignificant.

"Paul…? About the battle--"

"--you have no chance. Those weaklings of yours won't do much; you might as well sit it out and forget it." He began with this cocky smirk, "No matter how much you're going to try, it will al be_ useless_."

The Celestian teen bit her bottom lip, her fist clenching tightly as her knuckles grew white, "Don't call my pokémon weak! Empoleon always tries its best, but when you called back Torterra, you only degraded it! You shouldn't treat your friends like that!"

The other teen only grunted, facing away from Dawn to examine the faded letters on the monument. For a moment he remained in silence, his chilling purple eyes were directed on Dawn's sapphire hues in a very hostile glare, "That's the same kind of dim-witted idea that will get you nowhere. They aren't meant to be _friends_."

"That's not true!"

Paul merely walked away, but Dawn followed his trail in a fume. Her hands relaxed, the imagery of the oceanic waves or baby pokémon calmed her in a way. Before Paul entered the Pokémon Center, the blunette boldly caught his sleeve. Despite her legs trembling through his intense glower and the scrunched-up expression of disgust being touched, Dawn continued, "I'm your friend." _Or at least I'm trying to be._

He shook her grip on his navy blue sweater, dusting off the imaginary dirt with a scowl, "But I don't want to be yours." His other subtle message passed by: 'Never touch me again' got her gulping.

---

After being ordered to stay in the room while Paul went by to do several errands—stocking supplies to be exact—the time lagged on for a certain trainer. She buried her face on the pillow, bored as anyone could be just cooped up inside a room without anything to entertain oneself. Volkner never answered his communicator no matter how many times she tried to get on line with him - it was probably her umpteenth time until she gave up. Her Empoleon is getting healed and Probopass is sleeping next to her bedside. The girl sprang up, reaching out for a magazine sacked in a rack on the oak desk. Flipping through some pages she came across the Old Chateau with the hidden secret for old gateau considering being a great treasure. Dawn threw the publication on her bed, gently voicing out Probopass to wake up. Its azure eyes gradually opened, sleepily gazing at its trainer.

"C'mon, we're going on a little trip!"

Her excitement woke the pokémon completely from its nap, her arms wrapped around the red hat-like rock structure; her feet had a good position on some rigid stone pieces for her to calmly ride on while her shiny Probopass led the way as it stayed afloat - levitating? It would be fine if her shiny rock creature was a normal because it drew unnecessary stares from the town dwellers, the light seem to be hitting Probopass for it to glimmer. She made her way out of Eterna, coming closer to the Old Chateau with a perky smile. No was around for a tour or such that meant she is lucky enough to make her own gateau without anyone pushing and shoving for the lack of ingredients.

As Dawn came closer to the entrance, she jumped off her pokémon and opened the front gates. Unaware that someone sent her a deep glare.

Who?

"Does she ever stay still?" wearily said Paul, picking out the last of the berries to follow the pair inside despite them already entering.

_And most likely to get lost._

---

The atmosphere felt light and dark all at once, statues that held in representation felt like they gave cold shivering glowers. Her enthusiasm manages to be kept alive only for the kitchen, but over everything else it felt horrible to be in here. Dawn was never fond of dark places; it absolutely frightened her to be in shadowy areas. She would never even dare to step foot in something as creepy as this Chateau unless accompanied by someone - most preferably Riley when she tagged along in his missions. Her mood gloomed painfully; will there be a moment she loses another?

The pair followed the corridor leading through three separate rooms; the blunette kept following the line to the very left door to begin. Opening the rusty knob, Dawn poked her head. Her smile came back at rapid speed as she turned on the lights, all around where kitchen appliance—and the appearance they gave that it was still usable—with ingredients set on the counters. Probopass gladly assisted to hold the tray on its head structure because Dawn speedily finishes batches of the gateau to keep using up the trays.

The shiny pokémon made its way with the first tray, but it opened on its own. It got Probopass a slight fear, however the tray slid off its head, down the nose and into the oven. With the first set in place, it used its nose to lift up the cover a sealing it. Turning around to gather another batch of the gateau, a spark of flame hit its side. Probopass flinched from the heat, its azure eyes looking back with a sudden realization the oven grew into a completely different color and with a face. A grinning smile with a set of eyes, pumpkin-orange in all. The strange machine struck more fires on the innocent rock creature, grinning even more deviously as Probopass flees away from the scene.

"You got it done? Good, here's another tray."

Probopass violently shook, "P-Probo!"

The hinges on the shiny pokémon's pointed towards the oven, it blinked twice to find out it was…a regular oven. Dawn giggled, patting the hat-rock in amusement, "It'll be done in a jiffy, Probopass. I'll set the heat later." She lifted up the whisk, frowning slightly until she placed it on pokémon's red hat, "The gateau needs more texture. What could be in the fridge…?"

The Celestian hummed opening the handle to the refrigerator, busily looking through the items, and some clattering from things accidentally dropped. A jar of open jam tumbled over the cabinet, the reddish-berry sugary gel staining her snow-white scarf. Dawn irises were glued to the scarf for a matter of a few seconds, Probopass watching idly for any sign of reaction or motion to its trainer.

"Shoot! They have to have something to clean this with!"

And she dashed right out of the room, her only pokémon trying its best to keep up at her pace. To her relief she found a washing machine, and then she dumped it inside filled with the supplied soap, bleach, and vise versa in a stored closet. Dawn took a sharp breath then exhaled; at least her scarf could stay white like intended.

Probopass entered the room exhausted, the blue haired clapped her hands to figure now was the time to get back to cooking. Taking one step forward, a snickering and a click echoed the silent room. Fearfully she turned around, her teeth chattering and blue orbs as wide as saucers at the orange machine with a pair of eyes and devious smirk. It held out one extension, blasting the blunette with powerful water.

"G-g-gh-gh-ost!" she stuttered, ergo by the shrill shriek she gave running out of the door and accidentally inside the kitchen again. Her direction came to by the oven—surprisingly it was a self-monitored heat system—and quickly snatched the gateau, wrapping it around napkins that sat on the side—and stuffed it inside her pocket. Of course the strange creature controlled the oven and tried blasting her with fire, then to the fridge where it attempted to discharge ice abilities on the on-range Probopass.

The pair desperately scrambled in the main hallway, taking the unknown door and ending up in the garden outside. The two sets of blue eyes twitched to a single mechanical machine outside: the mow. From a normal instrument to a deadly color of orange, the eyes coming back with its signature signal.

"Probopass, to the main exit then!"

"And I'm following!"

Blue eyes came across the stumbling and tripping gym leader whilst holding a small Turtwig in her arms. Her bi-colored hair stuck to her face from the sweat, her bangs messier than the general appearance shown in the magazines or pamphlets. Then again, she could be stuck in the same situation—with a different scenario—trying to escape this strange ghost.

"Let's go! Rotom will not stop at anything to have fun without considering the dangers."

Dawn followed the woman, coming back to the corridors to be thrown off guard by a strong gust of wind. Her vision could only see an orange fan. _When did that get there?!_

The wispy winds stopped momentarily, all remained quiet except the collapse of Probopass being hit by water. Dawn called it back in its ball, scared to know she is all alone and seems to be with a completely scared gym leader. Rotom controlled the fan again, increasing the power of the winds. Her eyes clamped shut, her fingers tightening the hem of her red coat.

---

A wetness on her forehead.

The warmth of blankets.

The sweet scent of tea and honey.

The comfort of plushness supporting her body.

Blue irises caught the glimpse of a beautiful night, the stars twinkling in bright radiance, most blocked by the window's curtains swaying back and forth with the wind. She slouched a tad bit, letting her arm support the faint feeling of dizziness stirring her head. Her vision is all but steady until she finally regained full consciousness of her surroundings, her eyes catching the moving blue blur clattering a tray of peculiar items. The blur turned around, silly her, it was just her Empoleon. But the penguin was quite relieved to see its trainer awake from sleeping to the very morning at this late at night.

On its flipper held a single cup on a tray: tea so it seems as she smelled before.

"Thanks. Who made this?" Her slender fingers held the handle, her other hand supporting the base of the porcelain cup. Little by little Dawn took tiny sips, bearing in mind how hot the liquid is.

"'Poleon."

It was a surprise that the emperor penguin pointed its flipper towards itself.

"_You?_ Err," Dawn looked around the room, "Where's Paul? I remembered that he helped me."

Empoleon looked the other way. It cannot speak human, but from its expression Dawn understood as much. It became clearer that the penguin made a reenactment of what happened:

Empoleon held a plush doll of a Lopunny in its flippers—a substitute for Riolu, she assumed—dumped the plush doll in the bed and left out of the door momentarily. Then finally it returned back inside.

"So, let me get this straight…" Her fingers ran through her messy blue locks, "He did…save…me from the mansion. Dumped me on this bed and just _left?_"

Empoleon nodded.

"You were the one helping me all along while I was unconscious. I see." Weakly she got out of her bed, the penguin slightly panicky that she got up from the comforter so quickly, but more shaken when her thin arms wrapped around its blue body.

"That's right. Why would he do more? Not like I'm any better than anyone he sees. We're…he doesn't he see me as a friend." Dawn held on a bit tighter, "He doesn't want to be friends. You, Probopass, and even Riolu are all I have now…"

Empoleon awkwardly held its flippers in an attempt to hug her. It hesitated and never did, the large flippers only returned to its side. It wouldn't even try to explain that it was Paul who did three considerate things:

One - He saved her.

Two - He took the time to get her scarf - probably still with him.

And finally he had the decency to look over Probopass for several hours as it recovered, despite muttering how weak or useless - something along those lines.

_Then again_, Empoleon thought, _why make him look good for driving Riolu away?_

Dawn felt horrible to be saved, it's time to walk on her two legs. Even if she might no be capable of defeating Gardenia on her own, _maybe_ there is still a chance. The blunette rationed her thoughts, she would forget about asking the plum haired teen for his pokémon again. There was a feeling of strong confidence that Dawn felt ascertain to.

She will win.

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**A/N****: Uh. Wow. I looked on my story stats. Like dude…660+ hits! Thank you ever so much! Who knew I could get so much in just four flimsy chapters? xD**

**Featuring in the next chapter ~ Dawn will go forth on her own power to fight Gardenia. Can she win? Can she get the Orb's piece? Dum dum duuuuuummm~! If you haven't notice, I got too lazy to revise. :D Review?**


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